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MATERIALS SELECTION IN THE CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS: CHALLENGES,

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 International Journal of Advances in Mechanical and Civil Engineering, ISSN: 2394-2827 Volume-6, Issue-1, Feb.-2019
http://iraj.in
MATERIALS SELECTION IN THE CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS:
CHALLENGES, CRITERIA AND PATTERNS
1
EBRAHIM AGHAZADEH, 2HASAN YILDIRIM, 3SEVDA ALIPARAST
1,2
Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Structure Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey
3
Department of Energy Science, Faculty of Energy Science and Technology, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey
E-mail: 1aghazadehe@itu.edu.tr, 2hasanyildirim@itu.edu.tr, 3aliparast.s@gmail.com

Abstract - The choice of materials for engineering purposes in the construction industry is a time consuming and costly
process. Almost always, more than one material is suitable for engineering applications in the building industry, and the choice
of final materials is a compromise option that can have some benefits and some disadvantages. A large number of materials,
along with the complex relationships between the various selection parameters, often make the selection of materials in the
construction industry a complex and difficult issue, which is associated with uncertainties in the decision making process. In
other words, selecting materials in a construction project is a multidisciplinary effort and often requires a variety of research
fields such as materials science and engineering, mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, and other utilities and
utilities. From the other hand, in recent decades, according to the proof of the need to observe the principles of sustainability
across all industries and societies around the world, sustainable materials also attracted important role in the stability of many
construction play. The selection of sustainable materials in construction projects, despite a wide variety, is characterized by a
variety of specifications that determining these indicators can have positive outcomes in advancing the construction industry's
goals; Determining these indicators is an interactive process that requires the coordination of various information from
different sources of the project and overlooks the various factors involved in the projects at all stages of the project
implementation and the decision-making process in the design process. According to the above, in this research, the research
will attempt to evaluate the main criteria for selecting materials from the first stage, considering the life cycle of materials and
sustainable development in construction projects, in the form of a key model. The results show that sustainability criteria can
be selected in the main five technical, economic, social, managerial and environmental categories, and in each section, could
be determined the sub-criteria and based on them and before the starting of the project, the selection of materials be Managed
with the objectives of sustainability.

Keywords - Sustainability Criteria, Material Management, Material Selection, Challenges and Pattern.

I. INTRODUCTION project at all stages of design and decision-making

Nowadays, new materials and technologies, which are
the guarantors of sustainable development in the
construction industry, have come to the market, which
play a very important role in ensuring the
sustainability of the building. These materials directly
or indirectly absorb the environment around the
building energy, and this ensures a reduction in the use
of fossil fuels and, as a result, the sustainability of the
building and optimal energy consumption [1]. The
choice of sustainable materials in a building system is
the first step in the process of designing structures in
construction projects, which results in the overall
coordination of structures including structural form,
geometry and structural components, primarily,
reducing the cost and implementation time of the
project, managing energy consumption and etc. ... is in
the next degree. In addition, today, civil engineering
projects have become more mechanized and, with the
growth of the construction industry, the role of
choosing sustainable materials in achieving profits
and optimal production in the construction industry is
vital. Selection of a proper and principled building
system in construction projects is stated with different
specifications. This is an interactive process that
requires the coordination of various information from
different sources and overlooks the factors involved in
process. Of course, the matter of choosing and
deciding to pick this material is still accompanied by
the builder unawareness, especially in the construction
industry, and it is a challenging issue. Managing these
challenges, considering the most important criteria,
can be a logical solution to achieving the principles of
sustainable construction through the choice of
sustainable materials. This process needs to be done
by experts in the light of important criteria before the
project starts. Considering these factors, what are the
most important criteria for selecting sustainable
materials in construction projects? In this research,
after reviewing some of the challenges of selecting
materials in construction projects, the management of
material selection based on sustainability in the life
cycle was considered. Finally, some effective
measures in the selection of sustainable materials with
this view are presented as a model for the selection of
materials in construction projects.
II. LITERATURE
In recent years, there has been an increased research
interest in the materials management theories and
methods. Trusty [2-5] & Woolley [6] further disclosed
that existing databases on such materials and their
formats are not designed to efficiently and directly

Materials Selection in the Construction Projects: Challenges, Criteria and Patterns

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 International Journal of Advances in Mechanical and Civil Engineering, ISSN: 2394-2827
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provide such information to decision makers. They
note that the available data on such materials are
normally in the read-only format, and are stored in
various operational databases that are not easily
accessible to decision makers in usable forms and
formats. As a result, decision-making failures during
the planning and design stage (s) of low-cost green
housing projects hinder their use in terms of their
industrial capacity utilization in the housing industry.
While several studies [2-6] have emphasized the
relative importance of information access in aiding
well-considered and justifiable material choices
during the early stages of the design process, Wastiels
et al. [7] argue that the existing material selection
method focuses mainly on limited aspects of such
materials, in terms of their properties and factors that
influence the decision making process. Quinones [8]
asserted that some low-cost green building materials,
for example, contain high embodied energy that leads
to ecological toxicity and fossil fuel depletion impacts
during their manufacturing phase. She argued that
ignoring the relevant factors or properties of any of
such materials during the crucial material selection
phase could reduce the effective life of that product to
less than half of its normal effective life span.
Moreover, Seyfang [9] and Trusty [2-6] argue that
choosing the right materials for a particular project can
be a very complex decision-making task, given that
the selection process is influenced and determined by
numerous preconditions, decisions and
considerations. They suggested the idea of a decision
support system (DSS) as a useful aid in making quick
and critical decisions during crucial material selection
process. They stressed that the considered approach to
encourage the wider scale use of low-cost green
building materials in mainstream housing should
enable design professionals to have easy access to
adequate information on the available options, hence,
making the selection results more reasonable and
bringing more standardization to the material selection
decision-making process at the design stage.
Castro-Lacouture et al. [10] note that the application
of green building support/assessment tools has been
widely accepted as an effective and useful way of
promoting green housing construction in the housing
construction industry. Loh et al. [11] however,
criticized the tool for providing partial assistance in
the material selection process of the whole building
design as it only considers the cost of roofing
materials. They argue that material selection process
depends on a number of other factors such as the
location, zoning and environmental regulations,
demographic characteristics, etc. Yang et al. [12]
describe a Multi-Criteria Decision Support System for
the Selection of Low-Cost Green Building Materials
and Components. Bakhoum and Brown [13] in their
researches, Developed a Sustainable Scoring System
for Structural Materials Evaluation. Abeysundara et
al. [14] present a matrix to select sustainable materials
Materials Selection in the Construction Projects: Challenges, Criteria and Patterns
43
Volume-6, Issue-1, Feb.-2019
for buildings in Sri Lanka, taking into consideration
environmental, economic and social assessments of
materials in a life cycle perspective. Al-Geelawee and
Hammadi [15] developed a system to determine
factors that affect the selection of building materials
according to sustainability principles. The research
objective was achieved through two stages; the first
stage included a theoretical study about sustainable
building materials and their characteristics, while the
second stage included a practical study to determine
the relative importance of the factors that affect the
selection of building materials. The results of practical
study showed that environmental criteria got a high
importance after economic criteria among the
identified factors while social criteria got the last
priority in the selection of building materials.
Deepening on the results of practical study a
methodology for applying sustainability principles in
the selection of building materials was proposed.
III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This research is in the category of applied research,
because applied researches is the research that applies
the theories, rules, principles and techniques that are
developed in basic research to solve real and actual
problems. This research focuses on finding solutions
to immediate practical issues and so the research is
practical. The results of this study are objective and
specific, and the researchers themselves are typically
involved in the application of the results. This type of
research is used to apply a new way to have a better
society.
IV. SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION
Sustainable construction is defined as follows:
"Managing a clean and healthy environment based on
the effective exploitation of natural resources and
ecological principles". In other words, sustainable
building can be defined as: a building that has the
slightest inconsistency with the natural environment
around itself and in a wider area with the region and
the world [16]. The purpose of the design of
sustainable buildings is to reduce their damage to the
environment, energy sources and nature, which
generally includes the following rules [17]:
 Proper utilization of resources and energy
 Avoid reducing renewable sources
 Environmental Compliance
 Development of the natural environment
 Reduce of the consumption of toxic substances or
damage to nature in the construction industry
V. SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGES IN
CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
Sustainable construction has grown significantly in
 International Journal of Advances in Mechanical and Civil Engineering, ISSN: 2394-2827
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recent years and has created many challenges. These
challenges include economic, technical and
environmental challenges, energy, technology,
building materials management systems, etc. [18-20],
which could be due to the lack of proper management
of resources and building materials.
A. Economic challenges
The low cost is a new concept that affects budgeting
and finding support tactics to reduce the cost of
construction. This system can be implemented using
sustainable materials or native materials available with
developed technologies and applications without
reducing power, performance, and building
productivity. Reducing the cost of materials and
building materials is possible with the proper
management of resource allocation. The cost of
building a building can be divided into two parts,
including the cost of building materials and labor
costs. In buildings at a low cost, the cost of building
materials can be reduced by using available and
sustainable materials [21]. The low cost of
maintaining the building is also another aspect of the
economic construction system that builds on the life of
materials and the type of maintenance they need.
These samples should be considered when selecting
materials in the project. Therefore, construction
materials selection must be so maintenance costs be
minimize. These costs include painting, restoration,
renovation, insulation, and such maintenance, which
have severe effects on the environmental system. Such
methods lead to high productivity in economic
implementation [8].
B. Environmental factor
After a decade of effort from the first ISO publication,
environmental issues and environmental management
systems (EMS) in construction projects are still far
away from achieving sustainable development
through EMS project executives [1]. The problems of
this sector to achieve sustainable development by the
environmental sector in general are summarized in
two areas: the non-matching of materials produced in
factories with environmental standard systems (EMS)
and the irreversibility of materials Manufacturing to
manufacturing cycle [22]. On the other hand, the
materials and building materials sector have the
greatest impact on the greenhouse gas emissions of
CO2. Generally, 30% of greenhouse gas emissions
from CO2 and 40% of natural resource destruction in
the world are due to the effects of construction
materials [23]. The main goal of the development of
the support system for selecting materials is to
optimize the implementation of environmental issues
of building materials by using reversible systems in
such a way that the building materials are used for the
best form of implementation in the building with the
least contaminated and comparable levels And finally
classified and labeled [23-27]. Sustainable
Materials Selection in the Construction Projects: Challenges, Criteria and Patterns
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Volume-6, Issue-1, Feb.-2019
construction products with the aim of creating a
cyclical environment will reduce the risks of waste
and irreversible production, which will reduce energy
consumption in factories and reduce the use of natural
resources to save. The use of renewable materials on
non-renewable materials or materials with a long-term
renewable capability is always preferred and preferred
in construction projects [28]. The importance of
renewable materials in green building materials is
reflected in the reversibility of these materials, so that
they, in their reuse, minimize pollution and health
damage to residents and environmental issues [24].
The science of reversibility of materials has two basic
requirements: one is to ensure the implementation of
these materials in the building and the other to ensure
that no contamination and physical damage are caused
to humans due to the reuse of recycled materials in
reversible materials [23]. In fact, reversibility of
material must protect their fundamental foundations,
including the implementation of climate, energy and
environmental hygiene, in their re-use [29]. About the
construction materials reversibility system, it should
be noted that not only in these materials, corrective
actions should be carried out in accordance with their
catalogs and their standards for the return to initial
properties, but also from the addition of chemical
compounds and water-based adhesives In factories in
the production of products to avoid their property in
the construction of buildings [30].
C. Technical factor
Lightweight construction materials make shipping
easy and timely delivery on site, as well as simplifying
the ability to store materials. The term lightness in
building materials means that more material can be
moved over a specific period of time, which results in
the storage and reduction of the duration time of the
work. Most lightweight construction materials have a
very good environmental relation, so that when used
with this kind of materials, the negative effects on
nature and the environment will be minimum [26]. For
example, lightweight concrete can be used as
insulation material in construction work. In some
cases, such materials with cyclic ability can be used as
other purposes, such as coal. Proper choice of
construction materials will lead to the life of these
materials in the manufacturing industry, which
ultimately will increase the life span of the structure
[23]. Long life and durability is one of the most
important issues in terms of materials, construction
components. This type of system is directly related to
the selection and implementation of materials in
relation to the particular climatic conditions of that
environment. Only the climatic condition is not the
only item of material selection for long-term
construction projects, and environmental changes and
impacts from the use of these materials are very
important [29]. The presentation of the framework for
having effective factors in the process of selection and
 International Journal of Advances in Mechanical and Civil Engineering, ISSN: 2394-2827
http://iraj.in
selection of materials provides a logical model for
grading the functional and behavioral characteristics
of construction materials science. These factors are
among the key factors in the factories to provide
qualitative and functional grades of materials with
various environmental impacts that play a key role in
the implementation of sustainable building systems.
Labeling programs are evaluated using the Framework
for General Development Strategic Development
(FSSD). Information for developing this framework is
found through comprehensive studies of sustainable
development science in the manufacturing industry
and targeted studies on the documents developed in
this industry. The framework shows that this
methodology is used for stage-by-stage
decision-making strategies in companies [31],
municipalities [18], as well as for complex buildings
and massive materials [19].
VI. MANAGEMENT OF MATERIALS
SELECTION IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
Material management is an essential operation to
improve the efficiency of construction projects.
Materials management should be considered in all
phases of the process and throughout production and
manufacturing. The importance of this is because of
poor management of materials can often affect the
entire time, quality and cost of a project. Material
planning and control is an important category,
especially in order to ensure that the quality and
quantity of materials and equipment, in particular in
terms of time, are appropriate, reasonable and
affordable as soon as they are needed [16,17 ].
Material management in construction projects is
referred to as a set of planning, identification,
procurement, storage, delivery and distribution of
materials, and material management. The main
objective of material management is to ensure that
suitable materials are in the right place at the right time
with the lowest cost. Material management is
achieving factors such as proper quality, proper
quantity, the availability of materials at the right time
and place, appropriate materials, effective material
planning, effective production scheduling, making
decisions about making or purchasing, and how to The
use of appropriate materials, the provision of
specifications and material standards, the cooperation
in product design and development, the forecast of
demand and the amount of materials, the quality
control of purchased material, the use of value analysis
and value engineering, the development of skills
workers in the management of materials [32- 35].
VIII. MATERIALS SELECTION
Selection of materials for a construction project
requires considerations of aesthetic appeal and initial
and ongoing costs, life cycle assessment
Materials Selection in the Construction Projects: Challenges, Criteria and Patterns
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Volume-6, Issue-1, Feb.-2019
considerations (such as material performance,
availability and impact on the environment) and the
ability to reuse, recycle or dispose of the material at
the end of its life.
Materials must be used sustainably – this means the
present use will not compromise future use by running
out or harming the environment at any time. Few
materials fully meet this criteria. The aim when
selecting materials should therefore be to use:
1. Materials from renewable or replaceable sources
2. recycled materials
3. Materials that are in plentiful supply.
IX. SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF
MATERIALS
Sustainable management of materials means providing
a platform for the sustainable use of materials, Also,
the integration of measures to reduce the negative
effects on the environment and the preservation of
natural resources during the life cycle of materials
(and not just at the waste production and recycling
stage), given the economic and social productivity, is
the most important principle in the sustainable
management of materials. Among the major policy
sustainable management of materials can be
mentioned the following [34]:
 Protecting natural resources (materials, water,
energy, land, air and ecosystems)
 Designing and managing materials, products and
processes for sustainability, with an emphasis on
the life cycle of materials
 Applying all necessary facilities and policies for
social, economic and environmental sustainability
 Involve all sectors of society and make them
sensitive to environmental issues
The use of sustainable management of materials will
have many benefits, most importantly, which will
enable policymakers to take a systematic look at the
environmental and material cycle of the industry, and
to consider local, national and international impacts
(cycles Cradle to graveyard) [19-20].
X. LIFE CYCLE OF MATERIALS
As described in ISO14040:2006 Life-Cycle
Assessment – Principles and Guidelines, LCA is “a
systematic set of procedures for compiling and
examining inputs and outputs of materials and energy
and the associated environmental impacts directly
attributable to the functioning of a product or service
system throughout its life cycle.” This includes all
stages from the time materials are extracted through
manufacture, transportation, storage, use, recovery,
reuse, and disposal. The purpose of the LCA is to
evaluate the potential environmental impacts
associated with inputs and outputs and interpret the
 International Journal of Advances in Mechanical and Civil Engineering, ISSN: 2394-2827
results of the inventory and impact phases in relation
to the objectives of the study. Updated rating systems,
such as LEEDv4, reward project teams that utilize
whole-building LCA via a new Materials and
Resources credit. LCA analyzes the burdens
throughout the entire building life cycle, quantifying
the embodied environmental impacts of the building
and its constituent materials.
The quantitative data gleaned from LCA provides a
basis by which architects and construction
professionals can provide building owners with
practical means and measures for initiating ecological
building practices. As described by Kathrina Simonen
in her book Life Cycle Assessment, “All building
results in environmental impacts. …
The challenge of developing truly sustainable or even
regenerative buildings has led to a desire to understand
building and construction from a systems-based
perspective.” As Simonen adds, “Understanding a
building or product from the perspective of its entire
life cycle is the first step in developing sustainable and
regenerative buildings.” LCA results answer a
multitude of questions that can inform material
selection and major design decisions, especially when
used early and often during the design process [36].
This approach allows decision makers and wider
forecasts for policy makers in the life cycle of
materials. This will prevent the transfer of problems to
future generations or damage to the life chain. Also, by
involving stakeholders in the production and
distribution of materials, it is possible to implement
better local policies and attract support from different
groups [29]. Figure 1 shows this assessment key
factors.
From fig.1 we could understand that Life cycle
assessment considerations include:
 extraction and manufacture
 sourcing
 construction/installation
 use and performance
 End of life
disposal/recycling/reuse[36]
Figure 1: Cradle to grave cycle in building materials [36]
Materials Selection in the Construction Projects: Challenges, Criteria and Patterns
Volume-6, Issue-1, Feb.-2019
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Figure 2. Key factors in choosing materials process (Life cycle
assessment considerations)
Each section of this Life cycle assessment have
considerations that they will been introduced in fig 2.
And these considerations will be described in table 1.
XI. EFFECTIVE CRITERIA FOR SELECTING
SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS
The necessity of concluding and providing indicators
for the selection of sustainable materials in
construction can be examined in different areas. In
other words, perhaps the main reason for the need for
such a system would be the same broad domain
affecting the process of selecting materials. Each
section or main criteria can also be divided into
sub-criteria. Selected criteria should consider all
dimensions of the principles of sustainable
development and be comprehensible and
comprehensible in a wide range of materials options,
as well as for engineers, architects and construction
professionals. As a model for selecting sustainable
materials in construction, after extensive evaluations
of studies and research, indicators and criteria are
presented in the form of a template of Figure 3. As can
be seen, the main indicators are categorized in five
groups (1) technical, (2) economic, (3) health and
environmental, (4) design management, (5) social. In
each area the relevant sub-criteria are presented.
CONCLUSION
In this research, with the aim of examining the most
/waste important criteria for selecting sustainable materials in
construction projects by providing a template and
sub-criteria, first we introduced the sustainability
challenges in the construction industry and then tried
to manage them. Therefore, after extensive studies and
assessments, to review the details of the life cycle of
materials, the most important sustainability indices
selected materials and in every field, the following
criteria were presented. The life cycle of materials
showed that the construction of a building material
from the discovery stage, then the stages of production
and construction, installation and use, and eventually
reaches the final stage of its life. People are beginning
to realize that environmental impacts do not come
46
 International Journal of Advances in Mechanical and Civil Engineering, ISSN: 2394-2827 Volume-6, Issue-1, Feb.-2019
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from operations alone. life cycle of a project in order to gain the greatest
benefit for both the owner and the environment as a
As the value of LCA in the context of sustainable whole. If there’s one takeaway from the lessons of this
building practices is becoming more widely course, it is the imperative architects have to influence
acknowledged, architects need to find the tools and their clients, staff, or students to care
resources to conduct analyses throughout the entire

Table 1: Key factors in choosing materials

Materials Selection in the Construction Projects: Challenges, Criteria and Patterns

47
 International Journal of Advances in Mechanical and Civil Engineering, ISSN: 2394-2827 Volume-6, Issue-1, Feb.-2019
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Figure3. The most important factors affecting the stability of building materials 

about LCA. Accordingly, sustainability indicators  Maintenance / fixing 

should be provided for sustaining from the beginning  The cost of returning to the initial conditions 
of the life cycle. For this purpose, five main technical  Protect Ecological  
indicators with 9 sub-criteria, an economic with 8  Compatibility with Aesthetic Traditions 
sub-criteria, an environmental with 5 sub-criteria,  Creativity
management with 8 sub-criteria, the social index was  Availability
introduced with four sub-criteria in the form of a  
model. As the most important sub-criteria to consider The presentation of the framework for having
in selecting materials for sustainable construction, one effective factors in the process of selection of
can mention the following: materials provides a logical model for grading the
functional and behavioral characteristics of
 Maintenance level  construction materials science. These factors are
 Weight and mass of materials  among the key factors in the factories to provide
 Acoustic Properties  qualitative and functional grades of materials with
 Life Cycle Cost  various environmental impacts that play a key role in

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 International Journal of Advances in Mechanical and Civil Engineering, ISSN: 2394-2827
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the implementation of sustainable building systems.
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